New on dunera.de 24 June 2024
Networking meeting for descendants
“The Passenger” back on stage
New on dunera.de 27 May 2024:
Biopic about Walter Kaufmann
New on dunera.de 5 May 2024
New on dunera.de 25 April 2024
Webinar: Dunera and the Wiener Library
New on dunera.de 19 April 2024
Welcome to dunera.de
A new issue of “Dunera News” was published at the end of February; the newsletter has been published in English by the Dunera Association since 1984.
The current issue 117 summarizes, among other things, speeches from the events on the occasion of the 83rd anniversary of the arrival of the Dunera in Australia. Among them is a lecture by the author Paul R. Bartrop on the political and historical environment in which Australia was prepared to accept the internees of the Dunera and the Queen Mary in September 1940. Australia’s anti-Semitism and xenophobia in the 1930s are surprising. The claim that Jewish refugees could “dominate” Australian society is reminiscent of today’s arguments of German right-wing populists. According to Bartrop, even before the Second World War, “the racial criteria applied by Australia meant that 90% of all eligible applicants who met all Australian immigration requirements were rejected solely because they were Jewish.” Those who did not fall through this racist sieve “were in Australia, but not part of it,” writes Bartrop.
A report by John Ebert about the sinking of the Abosso on October 29, 1942 was taken from the Association’s Facebook pages. Of the 44 Dunera Boys on board, only the Italian ex-internee Ugo Achille Bonelli survived the attack by the German submarine U-575. Among the 29 Jews in this group was the Berlin writer Ulrich Boschwitz.
Australian children’s book author Claire Saxby summarizes her intentions, research and work on “Haywire”. Her novel, published Down Under in 2020, is inspired by the story of the Dunera Boys. It connects a 12-year-old boy from the internment village of Hay and a young German Jew. They meet for the first time when the internees arrive in Hay and become friends.
Information is also provided on the following event dates for this year’s 84th anniversary of the Dunera’s landing:
In Tatura (Victoria) on Sunday, April 14,
in Sydney on Sunday, September 1,
in Hay (New South Wales) on Saturday, September 7 and
in Melbourne on Sunday, November 10.
If you are interested in further information about the Dunera Association or would like to combine a trip to Australia with participation, please contact Kate Garrett.
Peter Dehn, February 2024.
